All Habs News: Saturday March 26, 2011

► Juniors roll into 2-0 series lead: Louis Leblanc scored two goals and earned third star honours as the Montreal Juniors steamrolled the Halifax Mooseheads 6-0 in Game 2 of their first-round best-of-seven against former Hab Bobby Smith‘s squad.  Fellow Canadiens’ prospect Philippe Lefebvre contributed an assist on Jérémy Gouchie’s first marker of the postseason.  Jean-François Bérubé stopped all 31 shots he faced as Pascal Vincent’s troops head over to Halifax for the next three games (provided the third is necessary).  The two teams next face off on Tuesday, March 29th at 6:00 p.m. EST.

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►Bournival, overtime hero: Also earning third star honours Friday night was Michaël Bournival of the Shawinigan Cataractes for his role in a win over the PEI Rocket, 2-1.  Bournival’s overtime goal was scored after Travis McIsaac was called on to serve a hooking call.   Former Rocket forward Benjamin Casavant was credited an assist on the play.  The puck drops on Game 2 of that series Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. EST.

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►Ellis, not so lucky: In his 2010-11 playoff opener experience, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ captain Morgan Ellis found his team on the wrong end of a 10-0 score against the Saint John Sea Dogs.  However, the 6’2″, 198 pound blueliner was one of a handful of Eagles’ players lucky enough to end up with an even plus/minus rating once all was said and done, attributable to the fact that the Sea Dogs made the most of 6 out of 9 power play opportunities.  Ouch. Game 2 is Saturday night at Harbour Station, slated to start at 6:00 p.m. EST.

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► Third times a charm?: The Canadiens have tried twice before to entice Alexei Yemelin, their third round pick from the 2004 draft, to come to North America.  Rue Frontenac is reporting that negotiations will begin again between Yemelin’s agent Don Meehan and GM Pierre Gauthier, at the end of the Canadiens season.

Yemelin, a 6’1″, 220 lb. defenseman, has been playing for AK Bars Kazan of the KHL.  This season he scored 11 goals, 27 assists in 52 games.  He was fourth in penalty minutes in the league.

Le Canadien négociera avec Yemelin après la saison

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►Rumour-mill:We steer clear of rumours at All Habs, and will continue to do so. But there have been many inquiries about a contract rumour for Andrei Markov that was generated by a Montreal radio personality. We won’t put too much stock in it as his track record is at best .500 (same as flipping a coin).

What we do know is that Markov’s agent, Don Meehan has said that he and GM Pierre Gauthier have agreed to discuss his client’s contract at the end of the season.